Ad Infinitum: Exit Strategy
by shipperfey
Summary: What made Jack O’Neill retire for good this time. SG1xWest Wing crossover. JackSam, JoshDonna, DanielVala, CJDanny.


**Title: Exit Strategy** (Ad Infinitum Universe)  
**Author:** Alice J. Foster

**Summary:** What made Jack O'Neill retire (for good this time). _SG-1/West Wing crossover._

**Category:** Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Angst, Future Story, POV, Romance, Other

**Season:** Season 10.

**Episode related:** "Zero Hour"

**Pairing(s):** Sam/Jack, implied Josh/Donna, Daniel/Vala and CJ/Danny

**Rating:** PG-13 for language and nudity (no sex though).

**Crossover:** West Wing. It's not a real crossover; I just borrowed their characters.

**Feedback:** Please, you will make my day. Constructive criticism appreciated as well.

**Warnings:** none

**Started:** 08/19/2006  
**Finished:** 08/26/2006

**A/N I:** As mentioned, this is sort of a crossover with West Wing but the story itself is all SG-1. I needed a White House in 11 to 12 years and I decided to just use the West Wing characters. Of course I couldn't use the Santos administration, so I just made someone else President :)

**A/N II:** This is set in the same universe as my other story "Ad Infinitum." Although you can probably read this without reading that, you might not fully understand everyone's mindset without doing so.

**A/N III:** Timeline: this is set in about 11 years and a few months after the beginning of Season 10. In the Ad Infinitum Universe, Jacob is 11 and Olin and Jaen were adopted a few months before.

**A/N IV:** Thank you, Tricia! You rock!

**Disclaimer:** Not mine.

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**Exit Strategy (1/1)**

Thank God being an Air Force Major General actually had some advantages, I thought as our complimentary vehicle drove up the long driveway leading to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

My Saturday was going really bad so far - perhaps not computer-entity-takes-over-my-second-in-command's-body-bad or stuck-in-a-time-loop-for-three-months-bad kind of day but it was only 1500. It all started when Hank decided to retire; my wife who was not only the most gorgeous and smartest astrophysicist on our side of the galaxy but also the most qualified officer on base, assumed command of the SGC last week. Unfortunately, having been in those shoes before, I knew exactly how taxing the first few weeks would be on her. I was due in Washington, D.C. next Monday to resume my position as main advisor to the President on the Stargate and related Programs. General Davis and I had been taking 6-month turns at the position to allow me more time off in Colorado but now it was my turn again and I couldn't just leave the kids with Sam at least until she got situated in her new position.

That's how the badness of the day started. We decided that I would bring the kids with me to D.C.; because of that I had to fly commercial with one eleven-year-old, a 19-month-old and an 18-month-old. Jacob and Olin behaved, of course, but Jaen had started to cry the moment she said goodbye to Sam at the house, and hadn't stopped until the plane had been in the air for a good twenty minutes. Nothing makes you feel like a bigger shit than when your toddler won't stop crying on a full plane.

Of course, halfway during the flight, the White House called the cockpit attempting to locate me because the President needed to see me as soon as we landed. I had to ask my eleven-year-old son to help me use the plane phone thingie with the credit card machine built-in because it was too damn complicated; when I finally got through to the President's executive aide and informed them I had the kids with me, they told me I could drop the toddlers off at their childcare, and they would find someone to watch Jacob while I spoke to the President, because this couldn't wait and General Davis was already out of town.

I got off the plane carrying a sleeping Jaen while Jacob's eleven-year-old frame awkwardly carried Olin since the airline had made me check the double stroller. On top of my dozing daughter, I also had my uniform in a garment bag so I had to find a family restroom to get changed, and hope that Jaen wouldn't drool on my uniform. Thank god they were past the spitting up formula stage; I had at least four uniforms ruined by Jacob when he was little before I learned the usefulness of a burp cloth. Then I had to make sure the kids had their jackets on, because it was February and it was going to be freezing outside.

There's something very emasculating about walking around an airport terminal in dress blues, pushing a double stroller while carrying a diaper bag (which is one of my wife's old laptop bags and semi-inconspicuous thank god). I didn't have a lot of time to reflect on how Bad-ass Colonel Jack O'Neill had become General MacDaddy, because an Air Force complimentary vehicle was waiting for us. I almost promoted the Airman driver to Colonel for helping me place the multitude of bags in the limo trunk, plus he already had two carseats in place.

We passed the South Entrance into the Main Lobby at the big house where politicians swam around like Goa'ulds in those ugly vats, and Josh was there to greet us - he'd been the President's Chief of Staff and his wife the Secretary of Education since this administration began. For politicians, they were not that bad... I was actually quite partial to these guys; then again, after having Kinsey in the White House, anyone sounded superb.

"Hey, how you doing, big guy?" He asked Jacob, just slightly condescending, but my son was very diplomatic as he shook the man's hand. "Thank you for making it. And who are these?"

"This is Jaen," I pointed to my daughter who was smiling from my right shoulder as she played with the medals on my left chest, "and that's Olin." My son was hiding behind Jacob's legs.

Josh rubbed Jaen's back then led the way to the childcare. "This is a great place, state-of-the-art center... I pushed for the addition since my wife and I spend more time here than at home, and it's nice being able to come down here and play with the kids when I need a break."

It really was a nice place. I knew the security clearance required to work at the Pentagon childcare center, so figuring the White House requirements were the same, I felt safe as I checked the little ones in. I begged Jaen to behave herself until I got back, and Jacob and I followed Josh up the main stairs towards the Oval Office.

We stopped outside Josh's office and he turned to Jacob, "Hey, A.J. is in my office, do you want to go play there while your Dad talks to the President?"

Jacob looked at me with an exasperated look at hearing the word 'play'. The kid would rather sit down in the Mural Room and read a science book by himself - sometimes I wondered if the kid took anything after me other than his abilities to tan and play ball. Luckily for him, I knew Josh's daughter, A.J., would probably rather read the Constitution than play children's games so they would probably get along. I motioned for him to go in and he did so, leaving Josh and I to walk the final feet to the waiting area outside the Oval.

"Is the President ready for Gen. O'Neill?" Josh asked Carol, one of the executive aides, and the brunette glanced at the paper in front of her.

"Give her another five minutes to wrap up the meeting with the HUD Secretary."

Josh's PDA went off so he excused himself and I stood holding my stupid hat. I glanced down to realize my medals were messed up so I quickly re-arranged them and made sure no stars had fallen off. After what felt like an eternity, the door opened and the Secretary exited and I was admitted to the egg-shaped room. After twelve years of being in this room, the glamour is kind of lost and I was just glad to sit on that comfy couch after I shook her hand. "Glad to see you, President Cregg."

"Sorry for bothering you on your plane, General. There were some things that I did not revise with General Davis before he left town and to tell you the truth, I preferred to wait until you resumed post." She apologized as she sat down across from me.

"No problem, Ma'am."

"Josh said you brought the kids with you?" She asked as she sorted through several folders marked 'classified' in front of her.

"Yes, all three."

"I told General Carter how glad I was that you decided to finalize the adoption of the refugee children," She said sincerely. "How did the plane trip go?"

I thought back to the long plane ride, the crying, and the pain in my arms and back from carrying all that weight and I put my best smile on and replied, "Great."

The President looked at me and smiled. "That bad, huh? Don't worry; I had to endure long plane trips with twin toddlers too. My husband and I wanted to pull our hairs out most of the time." Her children were eight by now, and were also adopted so she could probably share plenty of words of wisdom. "Before I decided to run for office, people would always come up to me and say how nice it was that I was so dedicated to my _grandkids_," she said and gave one of her rare laughs.

"I get that all the time," I admitted to her. Not many men in their mid-60s were active fathers, let alone to two toddlers, so I'd gotten used to being referred to as their 'Grandpa' by strangers.

We continued to make small-talk about family life until she found the report she was looking for; then we spent two-and-a-half agonizing hours discussing the OMB's projections for the new budget that was due Monday, and what kind of cuts would have to be made to all the programs under Homeworld Security.

By the time I left the Oval Office, I just wanted to go to my two-story home in Colorado Springs, tuck my three children in, and climb into bed with a very hot and preferably naked Brigadier General, but that dream was a few thousand miles away and I still had to figure out where the children would sleep here in Washington, seeing as my condo was not prepared to host the unexpected addition of the toddlers. I was hoping I would be able to spend all weekend preparing the house but it was almost sundown already.

I found Jacob being awed by the Roosevelt Room as A.J. gave him an unofficial tour of the White House. Then I picked up Olin and Jaen and I was almost out the door, when a security guard stopped us and we were escorted back to the Oval Office. The President was sitting at her desk looking worried as we re-entered the room.

"Carol?" The President yelled out and her assistant quickly came in. "If the General wouldn't oppose, can you please take the kids to the Residence?"

I quickly agreed to the plan, knowing that this was probably important and would therefore take a while. Jacob astutely picked up on my uneasiness, but followed the assistant and the Secret Service guys to the Mansion without a word. Once the door to the patio closed behind them, the President turned to me. "I just received a distress call from General Carter - she informed me that they had activated the self-destruct on the base, but she couldn't tell me why before communication was cut off. We are trying to figure out what caused the disruption, but we can't send a team in without knowing the situation there."

Telling myself this was nothing, I nodded. That _was_ nothing, right? I mean, we activated the self-destruct on base all the time, and every time we de-activated it in time for dinner and a Simpsons' rerun. I tried to swallow back the fear that was making its way up my stomach and into my throat... this was Sam and Daniel and Mitchell we were talking about; even if Teal'c was off-world these three could figure their way out of any bad situation. "Thank you for telling me in person, Mrs. President."

She nodded and we were quiet for several minutes as she waited for the small phone to ring. Years ago I'd found out that the red phone on the President's desk was not red but standard black and inconspicuous enough that the President could take calls regarding our top-secret programs even when someone else was in the room. I was clutching my uniform hat so hard now, I was afraid I would damage the thing forever and I would have to order a new one. After several minutes in silence, the President turned to me and smiled reassuringly, "You know how long these things can take."

The possibilities raced through my head - black hole, foothold, alien virus, there were so many things that could go wrong... I cursed myself for leaving this morning; maybe if our plane tickets were for tomorrow I would've been able to convince Sam to spend another day at home with us.

It was when I realized how Sarah must've felt every time I left - she didn't even know where I was half the time. When I was declared MIA, she had absolutely no idea what had happened, or how I'd gone missing.

As my fear grew, I realized how all the things I'd complained about earlier in the day were so inconsequential... I was privileged to have a family with a wonderful woman; we'd put a grown daughter through Med school, and we had three younger children to worry about. I wasn't concerned about moving them back and forth between Washington and Colorado - I'd been in the military long enough to know that children of service men and women were incredibly resilient. But I couldn't help but give in to the realization that our family was unlike any of those other families…

I was tired of wasting time in Washington discussing budgets and pushing paper.

Everyone on that base could be in serious danger and I should be at home, worrying by the phone instead of sitting in the Oval Office, waiting for a call from that godforsaken red phone. I knew that whatever was happening, it was probably stressful and my wife would probably wish I were there so I could wrap my arms around her when she walked out of that base. She would want to hold our kids and smell their hair, as I drove her home in my truck or her hybrid SUV.

I couldn't do it anymore - I couldn't waste any more time apart... six-month stretches of being apart when we didn't even know what, or when, the next threat against Earth would be. It's like they always say - no one ever regrets spending too little time at the office, but they always regret not spending more time with the family. I was too old, and I should be able to retire with a very generous pension - who knows, maybe I could even do a cabin makeover so we'd have more rooms up in Minnesota.

The minutes passed, and my fear began to diminish as I began to see more clearly what my retirement would mean. No more childcare for the toddlers; I could drive Jacob to school every day and pick him up; I could be the cool godfather to Alex and she would always have a place to stay while Daniel and Vala were off-world; I would get to watch Olin and Jaen grow up; no more missed Little League games or school plays because of work. I couldn't ask Sam to give up her job because that base needed her - hell _the world_ needed her mind and her skills; D.C. didn't need me, and the military I could still use me as a civilian consultant when the Program needed me.

The loud ring of the phone startled me out of my dream world. Reality came back crashing. I don't remember breathing or blinking as the President had a mostly monosyllabic conversation with whomever was on the other end. She finally extended her arm towards me and I just sat there in shock before I realized she wanted me to take the call. "O'Neill," I said into the receiver.

"It's me," my wife's voice came through and I finally let a breath out. "I just told the President that we aborted the self-destruct twenty minutes ago but it took me a while to get the system and communications back up. We had to manually dial out and we're keeping a wormhole open as long as we can."

"What the hel--" I started to say then I realized I was ten feet away from the President of the United States so I re-phrased it, "What happened?"

"We're not sure yet. Incoming wormhole formed two hours ago, it quickly affected the computers. It tried to corrupt the mainframe and override the iris-control program. We had to shut down all systems and manually keep the iris closed when radiation levels started spiking. We evacuated non-essential personnel, initiated self-destruct and that's when we lost communications. Most of our equipment was fried; I couldn't order a warhead from the surface so we had to use some liquid naquadah and create an explosion big enough to make the wormhole jump. They are still running some tests but we don't think that the exposure to radiation was at a dangerous level. We're still trying to make sure systems are back to normal." She briefed me in her General tone. "As of right now, gate travel is stopped and off-world teams are gating to the Alpha site instead."

"You did a great job, General," I said reassuringly, trying to sound like the Air Force General and her husband at the same time.

"Does this job get easier, Jack?" Her voice was barely a whisper.

"You betcha." Turning away from the President slightly, I added, "How are you?"

"Fine, I'm fine," she said, the strong General tone returning for a second before she admitted, "I-- I really wish you were here."

"See you soon," I simply said as I handed the phone back to the President, not wanting to have a private conversation with my wife in front of the President; I turned back to find that she was smiling, completely relieved that the ordeal was over. "Mrs. President, I spent the past several minutes in careful consideration and I can't do this anymore. I'm resigning my post as your advisor on matters related to the program. I will stay until you find a replacement, of course."

She looked sad but understanding. "I'm not gonna kid you, I don't know how I feel about General Davis assuming this position full time but I can understand your reasons."

"Well, Ma'am, I know you're not too fond of General Davis, but I think I can find you someone you will like," I said with a devious smile. "You just need to convince him to come out of retirement..."

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Hank called me every name in the book as I picked him up from the Air Force Base and the driver took us to the White House.

"Trust me, Hank, this is going to be a piece of cake." I promised and he glared at me.

"That's what you said thirteen years ago."

"Hey, this is nice pay and easy job, not stressful and the First Man loves to play chess-- you'll like him. Plus, you get a really nice office at the Pentagon."

He sighed and shook his head. "I swear, I don't know how I let you talk me into these things."

"It's part of my charm," I joked and he laughed.

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The kids and I made it to Colorado in the afternoon.

By the time I finished dinner, my wife still was not home – for anyone wondering, dinner was homemade mac and cheese, part of my limited yet delicious cooking repertoire.

There was still no sign of Sam so I started tucking the little ones in. Jacob proved to be a harder task as he insisted that he wanted to finish a book on how science advancements and politics are closely connected – something that the President had given him before we left Washington. At his age, I couldn't have been bothered to read more than a comic book; I had no idea how the kid's brain could process and store all this information already.

I shut his door and went back downstairs to finish cleaning the kitchen but I got sidetracked by a hockey game on television, the only thing that made me turn away was the sound of a key in the front door lock.

My wife's eyes met mine as the door opened to reveal what looked like a very tired body. Surprise flooded her features as her eyebrows shot up. "You're home!"

"I told you we'd be back on Thursday," I reminded her with a smile.

A frown took over her face. "But it's not—oh god, is it Thursday? It can't be."

I walked up to her and shut the door, pulling her into my arms. "Long week?"

She laughed into my shirt. "You have absolutely no idea." She returned the hug enthusiastically, seemingly absorbing some of my energy so she could continue to stand up. "So are you going to tell me why you're home early? I couldn't even get a straight answer from the President. She just mumbled something about reassignment."

I tried to hide my grin. "Well, I told the President I hadn't yet discussed this matter with my wife, and respectfully asked her to keep my decision under wraps, until I had to opportunity to do so."

"What are you talking about?"

"I retired." I explained.

"You _what_?!?"

Okay, so maybe she wasn't jumping with joy, but I figured it was the shock factor. Maybe I should've had the President or the Air Force Chief of Staff break the news to her… or at least Daniel or Teal'c. "Last Saturday, I told the President I was retiring. I convinced Hank to un-retire and now I'm re-retired. Again. I really hope it works out this time," I said with a distant look. I'd been so excited about the prospect of retirement I'd forgotten all the previous times this didn't work.

"And it didn't even occur to talk to _me _about it?" The tone was definitely angry now, and I gave her my best sheepish smile, the one that the kids always used on me when they strew toilet paper all around the bathroom or chewed on the end of my good pens… actually it was always Jaen who did those things, I guess she was the bad apple of the bunch.

"I wanted it to be a surprise?" I attempted half-heartedly. "Look, Sam… you've been working so hard trying to figure out what happened to cause the lockdown, and resuming gate travel - I just didn't want to dump this on top of that."

"Can you—can you undo it? Can't you just tell the President you weren't thinking clearly or something?"

My heart broke when I realized she was on the verge of tears. In the twenty-two years I've know this woman, I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen her cry so I knew something was very wrong. "What's going on, Sam? This isn't just about my not telling you, is it?"

She shook her head and a lonely tear rolled down her face. "I don't know if I can do this… One of the technicians that was in the Gate room during the explosion, he's in a coma. We took all the precautions, and I ran all calculations a hundred times over so the explosion would be focused on the wormhole only but it looks like he has some kind of naquadah poisoning according to Dr. Lam."

I placed my finger under her chin and pulled her face so she could see my eyes. "It's not your fault, Sam."

"How can it not be my fault? He was under my command, I gave the order and –" her voice broke down again, "I don't know if I have what it takes. You should take over the SGC, so I need you to tell the President you didn't mean it before, when you retired."

I sighed, realizing this had affected her more than I'd realized. "Do you remember when Ba'al and Cammulus tricked me into thinking that you, Daniel and Teal'c were taken hostage?" I asked and she nodded. "And do you remember how I had insisted you guys had backup on that mission, and you thought I didn't trust your abilities as SG-1 leader?"

She laughed weakly through her tears, "Yeah I was pretty hurt and pissed."

"It wasn't your abilities I distrusted. I honestly just wanted the parking spot; I definitely didn't want to be the one to order my team on a mission that would get them hurt or worse – I hated the responsibility. Those were the times when I had the most doubts about my abilities as a General and commander of the SGC."

"What changed?" She asked with her big doe eyes, her hands squeezing the sides of my t-shirt as if I were a lifeboat, and she was on the Titanic.

"I realized that I wasn't there to control the universe. I could only stop and think, and then I had to shout orders. I needed to be able to live with the consequences. because honestly I couldn't trust anyone else at the time to make decisions that would affect your safety, or anyone else's." My hand cupped the side of her face and I brushed my thumb against her lip. "You are a caring, intelligent human being, and the fact that you feel bad for that officer shows that I was always right about your abilities as a commander. You just can't let your emotions make you doubt yourself."

She put her forehead against my chest again and took a deep breath before nodding. Then she pulled back and looked up at me. "Thank you," she added with a smile that quickly faded. "Don't think you're off the hook just yet, though."

"Wouldn't dream of it," I said before I bent down and kissed her. She returned the kiss for several minutes as I felt some of the tension leave her body, then she took a few steps back.

"I want you to explain to me exactly what happened, but I need to get out of this uniform first."

I nodded and pointed towards the kitchen where the leftover mac and cheese was probably congealing and sticking to the plates already. "I'll go finish cleaning up. You hungry?" She shook her head and moved towards the stairs. "Be there in a sec."

The master bedroom was empty when I entered it after checking to make sure Jacob had put his book aside and fallen asleep. A General's uniform was haphazardly dumped on the bedroom floor which told me she was very tired – she's obsessive compulsive about making sure her uniform (and mine) are neatly folded every night. I found her in the bathroom, bubbles surrounding her as the water filled 3/4 of the tub. Her head was pressed against the wall, eyes tightly closed.

"Room for two?" I asked, already pulling off my shirt and kicking off my sweatpants.

She didn't even open her eyes as she moved forward in the oversized bathtub and allowed me to squeeze in behind her. Once in position, she took advantage of the 180-pound body pillow and I felt her muscles relaxing even more.

I knew she was too tired for anything other than a relaxing bath so I forced my body to keep in check, as I allowed my eyes to roam over the soft skin of her neck all the way down to her breasts. The skin was definitely not as tight as it used to be but she still kept in great shape, even if she seemed to have lost a couple pounds in the few days I was gone, which was expected considering the stress she'd been under.

"You got some 'splaining to do, General," she said with eyes still closed and I bent my head down to bite the skin of her shoulder just slightly and got elbowed in the ribs for it.

"Well… I was thinking—" I started and she interrupted me.

"That's never good."

"Ha-ha. Funny, Carter. Now cut the interruptions if you want to hear my great idea." Her head bobbed up and down in consent so I continued, "I'm not thirty anymore. Hell, I'm not fifty anymore either. When you brought Olin and Jaen home five months ago, we should've known where that would've taken us; we would've never been able to let them go. Hell, if Janet hadn't adopted Cassie all those years ago, I think I would've volunteered. What I mean is, we did a great job raising Jacob even with our careers, but with three kids it's going to be a lot harder. I really think it would be beneficial to everyone if I were home with them, and with you, instead of running back and forth from Washington all the time. You just took over the SGC and you're going to need us here, and I need to be around you; we're too old— AH!" I yelped as another elbow connected with my ribs, "Fine, _I'm_ too old to be spending time with you only when both our careers allow it. I want to be able to drive Jacob to school every day, and discipline Jaen face-to-face instead of over the phone, and take you on a date… I don't know, I just know that I love the Air Force, but I love this family more."

Sam laughed and I wondered what I'd said that was so funny. "Honestly, Jack, how long have we been married? Twelve years?"

I nodded against the nape of her neck. "And your point is, General Carter?"

The laughing continued. "How many dates have we had?"

"Well, let's see, there was that one time—and the other time… okay, fine, for crying out loud, no dates. Unless you count fishing." Her head shook against my chest. "I'm not saying we should go on a date now, I'm just saying that it would be nice to have the opportunity."

"It's not fair to you, Jack." She said just above a whisper.

"What's not fair?"

"You, giving up your career for our family while I get to keep my job. We agreed years ago that if one of us quit, the other one would too."

"Nonsense. The only reason I suggested that was because of the threat of a court-martial looming over our pretty heads. Plus, you can't leave your job. Who would be in charge? Walter?"

Sam laughed. "I'm sure Colonel Harriman wouldn't like your tone."

"Well, now the good Colonel can say all the things he ever wanted to say to me, and I couldn't bring him up on charges."

She gave an unladylike snort. "Yeah right, Walter worships you. Even when you had him reading reports for you, or making a donut run because you got a craving."

"Ah, the good old times," I whispered against her ear. "Stop worrying, Sam. You can't quit, not yet. You're not just the top-ranking official on that base, you're also the smartest person there, and there'd be no point in retiring from the Air Force if they would still need you every time the world needs saving. You might as well keep the nice parking spot and the expensive furniture."

"How do you know you won't be bored driving the kids around and cooking and cleaning all day, every day?"

"First of all, I think we should hire someone to do the cleaning. Second, driving three kids around is anything but boring – nerve wrecking is more like it. Third, there'll be lots of grilling, and you know how much I love grilling. In fact, I think there's a bass in the freezer with your name in it, just waiting to be grilled." I was rewarded with a sigh and a headshake, but I continued in a serious tone. "Sam, I won't regret this. I look at them, and I know it's going to be worth it."

"Hmm, I guess there's no changing Jack O'Neill's mind once it's made up," she admitted.

"What?!" I asked with a frown. "I can think of plenty of times when you and Daniel convinced me I was wrong even after my mind was made up."

She laughed. "True," she added and then lay back flat against my chest, pulling my hands around her and lacing our fingers together.

"Does this mean I'm right then? Since you gave up on changing my mind?"

"I wouldn't go that far, dear." Her voice barely hid her amusement and the use of a pet name was nothing but condescending and I frowned. "I'm sure Cam will try to change your mind… and Daniel and Teal'c and everyone else, so let's just say I'll closely observe their arguments before I admit you're right. Oh, and if you ever make a decision like that again without talking to me first, you'll be sleeping on the couch for a week."

"Yes, Ma'am," I smirked as my toe deftly pulled the bathtub plug and the water started to quickly drain. "Now let's get you in bed because you have a big day tomorrow."

"Is that right?" She asked with some amusement as we stood up and I wrapped a large towel around her arms before finding one for myself.

"Yeah. You get to convince the Air Force to let me keep my top-level clearance." I explained and she laughed.

"Anything but that. Do you know how many pages are in your file?"

I shrugged, "Ten, twenty?"

"Sixty-three." She replied.

"Ouch. Well, some of those have to be good pages, right? I mean, I did help to save the world, what? Six or seven times."

"Teal'c is the one keeping count." She smiled as she finished drying herself and she stumbled onto the bedroom. "I'm going to need my sleep if I am going to have to spend a few hours on the phone with the President and the Air Force."

I followed her to bed and slid into the nice comfy sheets that felt like heaven.

"I wish the kids were still up," she admitted out of the blue as we settled into our sleeping position which was usually spooning somewhere in the middle of the bed.

"You can say hi to them tomorrow before you leave. Jacob has been reading a book on Science and Politics, I'm sure you two will have a lot to talk about."

"Hmm, I can't wait." She mumbled as sleep quickly claimed her.

I made sure the alarm was set before following her. Tomorrow would be my first official day as a civilian in a long time… I could hardly wait.

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End file.
